King Day marchers urge fairness in state education

Marchers sing as they march during the annual King Day at the Dome Monday morning. OWEN RILEY JR./Staff e-mail this story More details Tour Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home View exterior and interior of home and learn about King's childhood The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project Includes an interactive timeline of his life, photos from his youth and audio from his speeches Nobel Peace Prize Includes a biography of Martin Luther King, audio from his Nobel lecture and his acceptance speech Related Photo gallery • View images from the march

The rally on the Statehouse grounds marked the 76th birthday of the civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968 at age 39.

A racially diverse crowd estimated by state Department of Public Safety officials at approximately 2,000 assembled to promote education equity and equal justice during "King Day at the Dome," but the Confederate battle flag waving overhead and school vouchers vied for the crowd's wrath.

"We're on the grounds of one of the roughest and crooked places in America," said Charles White Jr., regional director of the NAACP, the organization sponsoring the observance.

Others came away with a more upbeat feeling, even if their agenda remains unfulfilled.

Marilyn Roberts, a state employee from Columbia, said that "being here means fulfilling our dream that one day we'll all be equal."

Gloria Caldwell, who works for General Motors in Columbia, left "with a wonderful feeling that one day God is going to make a change, a big change, and that day is coming soon."

Unanimity stopped at the Statehouse curb.

Across Gervais Street, separated by a line of Columbia police officers and SLED agents, two dozen members of Southern heritage groups waved signs and an assortment of Confederate flags.

Police reported no incidents.

Lourie Salley, political officer for the South Carolina League of the South, said his group was making a statement that the NAACP is engaging in "the politics of division."

A festive air prevailed despite bitterly cold weather and a biting wind that offset what little warmth a winter sun provided. Vendors selling coffee, funnel cakes and fried-fish platters did a brisk business.

Others hustled issues.

Arnold Karr, a white state employee manning a table for South Carolinians Against War, ran out of newsletters well before the rally ended.

"It's difficult for the black community because the military offers job opportunities where there aren't many, but also great risks," Karr said.

Nearby a sandwich board studded with single-space pronouncements supporting reparations for slavery proclaimed on a bumper sticker, "You Owe Us!"

"We have to unite our people and understand the injustices still going on in America," said Leroy Allen, 69, a retired electrical worker from Sumter.

Missouri native Nicole Turnipseed, 28, who recently moved to Columbia with her husband, was attending her first MLK Day observance.

"I was always intrigued about the Confederate flag, and I wanted to hear more about it. (The flag) is a little discouraging, being from up North where it's not as prevalent.

"I love South Carolina — I just want it to be a little bit greater," said the University of South Carolina medical research scientist.

To Vivian Robinson of Calhoun County, "Our hopes are that we bring that flag down and get some equity in funding education. We're a rural county, our schools are predominantly black and we have a serious problem with funding. Hopefully, this brings awareness for change."

After years of debate, the Legislature moved the flag from the top of the dome to the Capitol grounds.

"It's a day of hope, coming together as a community, looking for a better time in America," said James Dennis, 55, owner of a Columbia janitorial service. "I was a kid during Dr. King's life, and I've always had the same aspirations he expressed."

He said the hard-edged rhetoric offered by some speakers "may seem harsh, but they're trying to rally the troops."

Phyllis Hoover, a white state Education Department employee, said she came to show her support for education equity "and the whole concept of this rally. You don't stay at home and show that."

Speaker after speaker called for equitable funding for the state's school districts, citing a pending lawsuit in Clarendon County, a small, poor, mostly minority system in the Pee Dee. The suit is aimed at equalizing per-pupil funding for all districts.

Lonnie Randolph, president of the state NAACP, lamented, "We're still separate and unequal — except on the football field and basketball court. Race is still the order of the day in South Carolina," with blacks receiving "second-class service" in education, medical care and criminal justice, he said.

Democratic Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum, paraphrasing King, said, "Inequity anywhere is a threat to equity everywhere" and warned against "untrue propaganda that's being floated about trying to bring public education down."

She said the agenda of Republican Gov. Mark Sanford "is not an agenda to help South Carolina. It is an agenda for vouchers and tax credits, and they call it putting parents in charge. I want to put the people of South Carolina in charge and save public education."

Retired AME Bishop John Hurst Adams, the keynote speaker, denounced the Bush administration's education policies and the war in Iraq.

"It's more important to educate our children than to kill Iraqis," Hurst said.

Dennis Hayes, interim national NAACP president, warned that future court decisions might end affirmative action, "so we must mobilize to end the racial disparities we all know about and do it now."

Hayes said the organization's agenda covered not only education, but "low birth weight, exposure to toxic substances, poor housing, dangerous neighborhoods, poor nutrition, drug abuse, lack of access to pre-natal care and unwanted pregnancies."

Greenville County, as the only South Carolina county without a King holiday, didn't go unrecognized.

Rhett Jackson, a Columbia businessman and co-chairman of Education First, noted ruefully, "Everyone in our state except Greenville County is celebrating Martin Luther King Day."

Although the event was held on the Statehouse grounds, legislators were in short supply. Lawmakers convene today through Thursday.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, one of the program's 19 speakers, pointing to the Statehouse behind her, said, "Behind me is not the answer. The answer lies within us."

Greenville's Dick Riley, former governor and education secretary in the Clinton administration, said South Carolina "must give up the old notion that we can educate our children on the cheap."

Taking a swipe at Republican plans for school vouchers, Riley said, "Our state cannot move forward if we start using public tax dollars for private education. We must keep our focus on excellence in public schools." Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.